United Nations

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks at the UNGA

Explainer

As Guterres exits, here are contenders for UNSG and their Middle East outlook

The next UN secretary-general will inherit a Middle East agenda dominated by crises.

Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok chairs an emergency cabinet session in the capital, Khartoum, on Oct. 18, 2021.

Interview

Ex-PM says Sudan risks partition amid US ceasefire push

Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok also called for the United States to impose sanctions that would carry “personal consequences” for the warring sides.

Members of Iran's Basij paramilitary force march with riffles during a military rally named Jan-Fada in Tehran, Sept. 18, 2026.

Iran rallies thousands of volunteer fighters as talks with US stall: What to know

Iran has been leading a volunteer recruitment drive and providing military training to civilians as talks with the US remain stalled.

SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon PM meets Rubio as Israel talks stall: What to know

The visit comes as US-brokered talks between Lebanon and Israel have made little headway, with Israeli elections looming.

Latest News

Sudan pushes back after US calls army-led government illegitimate

Ebrahim Hamid / AFP via Getty Images

Pezeshkian says Iran open to US talks, region must settle own disputes

TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon's PM calls for international force to replace UNIFIL: What to know

Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

Trump tells Middle East leaders US-Iran talks have ‘momentum’

US President Donald Trump (C) attends a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) multilateral meeting alongside alongside (L/R) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22, 2026.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein leaves after his meeting with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker (not pictured) in Beirut on August 14, 2024, amid regional tensions during the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

US envoy Hochstein’s document for Israel-Lebanon cease-fire: What we know

According to a report by the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper, the US envoy presented a document that includes several amendments to UN Resolution 1701 as a proposal to end the war in Lebanon, which Lebanese officials have repeatedly refused to change.

View taken on Oct. 27, 2008, of the Israel Aerospace Industries booth at the world's leading trade show for naval and maritime safety, in Le Bourget, north of Paris.

France again bans Israeli firms from defense fair, deepening diplomatic rift

In another sign of deteriorating bilateral relations between Israel and France, Israeli companies will be prevented from featuring their products at the international maritime exposition Euronaval in Paris in November.

UNIFIL-armored vehicles patrol at the entrance of the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura near the border with Israel, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters, June 17, 2024.

EU foreign affairs chief Borrell condemns Israel over UNIFIL incident

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell demanded that Israel explain Friday’s incident, where a post of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon was damaged and two soldiers injured.

A UNIFIL personnel carrier drives by a picture of late Hezbollah leader Sheikh Abbas al-Mussawi May 2, 2000, in the village of Ghandourieyh in south Lebanon.

Live Updates

France summons Israel envoy after new attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

Four peacekeepers have been injured in the past 48 hours after UNIFIL positions were hit by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon, sparking deep concern from the UN regarding the safety of its mission in Lebanon.

An Israeli army main battle tank moves at a position along the border with Lebanon in northern Israel on October 1, 2024. The Israeli army on October 1 said it launched a ground offensive in Lebanon and that its forces engaged in clashes, further escalating the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds. The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said, however, the Israeli operation did not amount to a "ground incursion" and while Hezbollah denied any troops had crossed the border, an Isr

Analysis

Lebanon invasion: Will Israel stop at Litani River or go beyond?

Israel must decide how far its army will go, now that it launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon, its first in 18 years.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Turkey’s Erdogan calls for end to US defense sanctions amid reports of S-400 deal

Relations between the two NATO allies have worsened in recent years over political rifts regarding the Eastern Mediterranean, Gaza and Syria, as well as over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 defense systems.

Kurt Reiniger, Swiss diplomat in charge of humanitarian affairs (L), arrives at the Swiss Embassy in Baghdad, on February 2, 2001.

After 33 years, what’s behind Switzerland reopening embassy in Iraq?

Switzerland closed its embassy in Baghdad in 1991 amid the Gulf War and is seeking cooperation with Iraq on migration amid an influx into Europe.

Judge and president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Nawaf Salam (2nd R) delivers a nonbinding ruling on the legal consequences of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on July 19, 2024.

Turkey applies to join ICJ genocide case against Israel with a caveat

Turkey’s submission didn’t include a written commitment to accept the judgment as binding, which experts link to Ankara’s efforts to prevent the recognition of the mass killing and deportation of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as genocide.

Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani (C) kisses the Taliban flag as he reviews the newly recruited Afghan security personnel during their graduation ceremony at the police academy in Kabul on October 5, 2023. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

What's behind Taliban's decision to attend UN conference in Qatar?

The attendance in and of itself signals progress and the possibility that the international community might find better ways to deal with the de facto rulers in Kabul.

Sudanese drivers rest on May 14, 2023 after transporting evacuees from Sudan into Egypt, in Wadi Karkar village near Aswan.

Egyptian authorities arbitrarily arresting Sudanese, Amnesty says

The alleged mass arrests and forced expulsions of Sudanese coincide with the raging war in Sudan, where fears of foreign interference are growing.

Members of the United Nations Security Council vote on a resolution during a meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the United Nations headquarters on June 10, 2024 in New York City. The UN Security Council held a vote on a resolution drafted by the U.S. backing a proposal outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The first phase of the resolution consists of an "immediate, full and complete ceasefire"

UN Security Council approves US-sponsored Gaza cease-fire resolution

The resolution said that Israel has “accepted” the deal outlined by President Joe Biden on May 31 and “calls upon” Hamas to do the same.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

After Modi's win, can Turkey-India ties grow despite Kashmir, IMEC differences?

Turkish officials and experts believe there is room for the two countries to expand cooperation despite their differences.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security